Think Wink.

I was reading through Piper’s pamphlet on biblical exegesis called Biblical Exegesis: Discovering the Meaning of Scriptural Texts (the .pdf document can be found here). Piper writes this under the section heading: “Finding a Reliable Text” on page 8,

You cannot begin to rethink an author’s intention until you have a text which corresponds substantially with what the author actually wrote. This means that for the readers of Greek, textual criticism is foundational to all reliable exegesis. Those who cannot read Greek have to depend not only on the text critics, but also on the translators. Apart from a knowledge of Greek, the best an interpreter can do is to understand the intention of the translator and then trust that this corresponds to the intention of the original author. It is therefore incumbent upon interpreters of the English Bible to find a reliable translation. But those who taste the exhilaration of theological discovery through careful grammatical exegesis will never be satisfied until they can drink fully at the fountain of the original source!

I think I am not moving outside of Piper’s aim by saying that this applies to the Hebrew Old Testament as well when he speaks only of the Greek in the quote.

We would all do well in remembering this when picking out our Bible translations for serious study and devotion.

Related posts:

With All His Warts

If anyone ever thinks Piper is perfect…

Piper and the Minneapolis Bridge